U.S. patent application number 15/513634 was filed with the patent office on 2017-10-19 for device, vehicle, mobile communication system, method and computer program for a mobile base station transceiver.
The applicant listed for this patent is VOLKSWAGEN AKTIENGESELLSCHAFT. Invention is credited to Andreas KWOCZEK, Bjorn MENNENGA, Moritz SCHACK.
Application Number | 20170302369 15/513634 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 54072830 |
Filed Date | 2017-10-19 |
United States Patent
Application |
20170302369 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
KWOCZEK; Andreas ; et
al. |
October 19, 2017 |
DEVICE, VEHICLE, MOBILE COMMUNICATION SYSTEM, METHOD AND COMPUTER
PROGRAM FOR A MOBILE BASE STATION TRANSCEIVER
Abstract
A device for a mobile base station transceiver, a vehicle, a
mobile communication system, a method and a computer program for a
device. The device for a mobile base station transceiver in a
mobile communication system includes a transceiver module to
communicate with at least one fixed base station transceiver in the
covering area thereof for providing a mobile coverage area, and to
communicate with at least one further mobile base station
transceiver in the mobile coverage area, wherein the mobile
coverage area at least partially projects beyond the coverage area
of the fixed base station transceiver by an extended coverage
area.
Inventors: |
KWOCZEK; Andreas; (Lehre,
DE) ; SCHACK; Moritz; (Braunschweig, DE) ;
MENNENGA; Bjorn; (Dresden, DE) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
VOLKSWAGEN AKTIENGESELLSCHAFT |
Wolfsburg |
|
DE |
|
|
Family ID: |
54072830 |
Appl. No.: |
15/513634 |
Filed: |
September 7, 2015 |
PCT Filed: |
September 7, 2015 |
PCT NO: |
PCT/EP2015/070368 |
371 Date: |
March 23, 2017 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
1/1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H04B 7/15542 20130101;
H04B 7/2606 20130101; H04B 7/15507 20130101; H04W 40/22 20130101;
H04W 16/26 20130101; H04W 84/005 20130101; H04W 88/04 20130101 |
International
Class: |
H04B 7/26 20060101
H04B007/26; H04B 7/155 20060101 H04B007/155; H04B 7/155 20060101
H04B007/155; H04W 16/26 20090101 H04W016/26; H04W 40/22 20090101
H04W040/22 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Sep 25, 2014 |
DE |
10 2014 219 400.8 |
Claims
1. An apparatus for a mobile base station transceiver of a mobile
communication system, wherein the mobile communication system
further has at least one fixed base station transceiver and at
least one further mobile base station transceiver, the apparatus
comprising: a transceiver module for communication with at least
one fixed base station transceiver in the coverage area of the at
least one fixed base station transceiver, wherein the transceiver
module provides a mobile coverage area for the at least one further
mobile base station transceiver, the mobile coverage area
projecting beyond the coverage area of the at least one fixed base
station transceiver at least to some extent by an extended coverage
area.
2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the communication system
comprises at least one mobile transceiver and wherein the
transceiver module communicates with the at least one mobile
transceiver.
3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the further mobile base
station transceiver provides a further mobile coverage area that
extends the mobile coverage area and the coverage area of the fixed
base station transceiver.
4. The apparatus of claim 1, which forms, with the further mobile
base station transceiver, a multi-hop network for extending the
coverage area of the fixed base station transceiver.
5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the transceiver module
communicates with at least one further mobile base station
transceiver in a coverage area of the at least one further mobile
base station transceiver, wherein the transceiver module further
provides a mobile coverage area for the at least one mobile base
station transceiver, the mobile coverage area projecting beyond the
mobile coverage area of the at least one further mobile base
station transceiver at least to some extent by an extended coverage
area.
6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the transceiver module uses a
different frequency in the extended coverage area than the fixed
base station transceiver in the coverage area.
7. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a control module
for controlling the transceiver module, wherein the control module
allocates radio resources of the mobile communication system or of
another mobile communication system to the transceiver module based
on information about a position and a motion vector of the mobile
base station transceiver.
8. The apparatus of claim 7, further comprising a positioning
module to determine the information about the position and the
motion vector of the mobile base station transceiver.
9. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the control module takes the
information about the position and the motion vector as a basis for
determining information about a trajectory of the mobile base
station transceiver, and to performs the allocation of the radio
resources based on the information about the trajectory and a piece
of frequency use information along the trajectory.
10. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the transceiver module
communicates one or more further mobile base station transceivers
with one or more further fixed base station transceivers.
11. A vehicle having an apparatus for a mobile base station
transceiver of a mobile communication system, wherein the mobile
communication system further has at least one fixed base station
transceiver and at least one further mobile base station
transceiver, the apparatus comprising a transceiver module for
communication with at least one fixed base station transceiver in
the coverage area of the at least one fixed base station
transceiver, wherein the transceiver module provides a mobile
coverage area for the at least one further mobile base station
transceiver, the mobile coverage area projecting beyond the
coverage area of the at least one fixed base station transceiver at
least to some extent by an extended coverage area, wherein the
mobile base station transceiver is supplied with the power required
for operation by the vehicle and/or uses the antennas of the
vehicle for communication with the at least one fixed base station
transceiver and/or for communication with the at least one further
mobile base station transceiver and/or for communication with the
at least one mobile transceiver.
12. The vehicle of claim 11, which communicates with a fixed base
station transceiver and for direct communication with another
vehicle.
13. A mobile communication system having multiple apparatuses for
mobile base station transceivers of a mobile communication system,
wherein the mobile communication system further has at least one
fixed base station transceiver, each apparatus comprising a
transceiver module for communication with at least one fixed base
station transceiver in the coverage area of the at least one fixed
base station transceiver, wherein each transceiver module provides
a mobile coverage area for the at least one further mobile base
station transceiver, the mobile coverage area projecting beyond the
coverage area of the at least one fixed base station transceiver at
least to some extent by an extended coverage area, wherein at least
two overlapping coverage areas of two mobile base station
transceivers use different frequency bands.
14. A method for a mobile base station transceiver of a mobile
communication system, wherein the mobile communication system
further has at least one fixed base station transceiver and at
least one further mobile base station transceiver, the method
comprising: communicating with at least one fixed base station
transceiver in the coverage area of the at least one fixed base
station transceiver; providing a mobile coverage area for the at
least one further mobile base station transceiver, the mobile
coverage area projecting beyond the coverage area of the at least
one fixed base station transceiver at least to some extent by an
extended coverage area.
15. A program having a programming code for performing a method for
a mobile base station transceiver of a mobile communication system,
wherein the mobile communication system further has at least one
fixed base station transceiver and at least one further mobile base
station transceiver, when the program code is executed on a
computer, a processor, a controller or a programmable hardware
component, the method comprising communicating with at least one
fixed base station transceiver in the coverage area of the at least
one fixed base station transceiver, providing a mobile coverage
area for the at least one further mobile base station transceiver,
the mobile coverage area projecting beyond the coverage area of the
at least one fixed base station transceiver at least to some extent
by an extended coverage area.
Description
PRIORITY CLAIM
[0001] This patent application is a U.S. National Phase of
International Patent Application No. PCT/EP2015/070368, filed 7
Sep. 2015, which claims priority to German Patent Application No.
10 2014 219 400.8, filed 25 Sep. 2014, the disclosures of which are
incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.
SUMMARY
[0002] Exemplary embodiments relate to an apparatus for a mobile
base station transceiver, a vehicle, a mobile communication system,
a method for a mobile base station transceiver, and a program
having a program code for performing a method for a mobile base
station transceiver.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0003] Further configurations are described in more detail below on
the basis of the exemplary embodiments depicted in the drawings,
but in general there is no restriction overall to the exemplary
embodiments. In the drawings:
[0004] FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of an exemplary embodiment of a
mobile base station transceiver in a mobile radio system having a
fixed base station transceiver, a further mobile base station
transceiver and a mobile transceiver;
[0005] FIG. 2 shows an exemplary embodiment in conjunction with two
mobile base station transceivers and a fixed base station
transceiver with the respective coverage areas;
[0006] FIG. 3 shows an exemplary embodiment of a vehicle that has a
mobile base station transceiver with the apparatus for the mobile
base station transceiver;
[0007] FIG. 4 shows an exemplary embodiment in conjunction with
multiple fixed base station transceivers with which the exemplary
embodiment in a mobile base station transceiver communicates via
multiple further mobile base station transceivers;
[0008] FIG. 5 shows an exemplary embodiment in conjunction with a
fixed base station transceiver and a mobile transceiver;
[0009] FIG. 6 shows a block diagram of a flowchart for an exemplary
embodiment of a method; and
[0010] FIG. 7 shows an exemplary embodiment in a direct
communication between vehicles.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DISCLOSED EMBODIMENTS
[0011] Mobile communication systems are faced by eternally new
challenges: they are used for a large number of services, such as,
e.g., navigation with dynamically reloadable map material, music
streaming or video streaming, communication via social networks and
mobile Internet. At the same time, the requirements on the
operators of the mobile communication systems, which need to
establish an ever denser network of base stations to meet the
bandwidth requirements of the users, are rising. Furthermore, the
requirements of the users on local availability of a mobile radio
link are also rising, however: if paper maps, offline navigation
devices and voice telephony met the requirements of the users in
remote regions in the past, then operators today are expected to
provide adequate coverage with mobile Internet even at remote
locations.
[0012] This presents challenges to operators of mobile
communication systems, since the setup and operation of additional
base stations is expensive and in some cases, such as, e.g., in
mountainous landscapes and areas of low population, it is difficult
to achieve complete coverage.
[0013] Further information about mobile base station transceivers
can be found in "Mobile and wireless communications Enablers for
the Twenty-twenty Information Society: Deliverable D6.2 report on
horizontal topics, first and 5G system concept" and in the EURECOM
presentation on "Open Air Interface Wireless Radio Platforms", for
example.
[0014] There is, therefore, the need to provide the services of
mobile communication systems or to improve connection even at
locations that are not in the coverage area of base stations.
[0015] This need is met by the disclosed mobile base station,
vehicle, mobile communication system, method for a mobile base
station transceiver and program having a program code for
performing a method for a mobile base station transceiver.
[0016] Some exemplary embodiments can allow this through the use of
one or more mobile base station transceivers that are integrated in
vehicles, for example. If, e.g., the mobile base station
transceiver of a first vehicle is still in the coverage area of a
fixed base station transceiver (or of a further mobile base station
transceiver), and a further mobile base station transceiver of a
second vehicle is in the coverage area of the mobile base station
transceiver of the first vehicle, but not in the coverage area of
the fixed base station transceiver, then the mobile base station
transceiver of the second vehicle can, in some exemplary
embodiments, use the mobile communication system handed over by the
mobile base station transceiver of the first vehicle, and for its
part can make it available to the mobile base station transceivers
and mobile transceivers that are in its coverage area. Sometimes,
this allows the coverage area of the mobile communication system to
be extended distinctly without additional fixed base station
transceivers being required. Since mobile base station transceivers
can be integrated into vehicles, for example, that have sufficient
power reserves for the operation of mobile base station
transceivers, it is sometimes possible to achieve constant service
within the coverage areas of the mobile base station transceivers,
for example, along a road in an area having only inadequate
coverage by fixed base station transceivers.
[0017] By way of example, the concatenation of multiple mobile base
station transceivers would also allow the available bandwidth,
latency and availability to be increased, since different elements
of the chain may possibly lie in the coverage area of different
fixed base station transceivers that can accordingly be used at the
same time. Some exemplary embodiments can thus allow a cellular
mobile radio system to be extended by means of mobile base station
transceivers, for example, by a multiple transfer network
component, made possible by means of multiple mobile base station
transceivers.
[0018] Exemplary embodiments therefore provide a (first) mobile
base station transceiver of a mobile communication system. The
mobile communication system further has at least one fixed base
station transceiver and at least one further (second) mobile base
station transceiver. In this case, the mobile base station
transceiver has a transceiver module for communication with at
least one fixed base station transceiver whose coverage area it is
in. Furthermore, the transceiver module is designed to provide a
mobile coverage area for the at least one further (second) mobile
base station transceiver, the mobile coverage area projecting
beyond the coverage area of the at least one fixed base station
transceiver at least to some extent by an extended coverage area.
Some exemplary embodiments thereby achieve an enlargement of the
coverage area of the mobile communication system.
[0019] In some exemplary embodiments, the mobile communication
system can furthermore comprise at least one mobile transceiver,
the transceiver module being designed for communication with the at
least one mobile transceiver, so that, by way of example, mobile
transceivers can use the coverage area of the mobile communication
system, as enlarged by the mobile base station transceiver.
[0020] In some exemplary embodiments, the further mobile base
station transceiver may be designed to provide a further mobile
coverage area that extends the mobile coverage area of the first
mobile base station transceiver and the coverage area of the fixed
base station transceiver. In exemplary embodiments, this can be
combined with a series of mobile base station transceivers, for
example, so that it is sometimes possible for a multi-hop network
for extending the coverage area of the fixed base station
transceiver to be formed, as a result of which the coverage area of
the mobile communication system is enlarged.
[0021] In exemplary embodiments, the transceiver module of the
first mobile base station transceiver may, by way of example, also
be designed for communication with at least one second mobile base
station transceiver in the coverage area thereof, and may sometimes
at the same time be designed to provide a mobile coverage area for
at least one further mobile base station transceiver. In this case,
the mobile coverage area of the first can project beyond the mobile
coverage area of the at least one second further mobile base
station transceiver at least to some extent by an extended coverage
area. This allows extension of the coverage area, even if the
mobile base station transceiver is not in the coverage area of a
fixed base station transceiver.
[0022] In some exemplary embodiments, the transceiver module may
sometimes be designed to use a different frequency in the extended
coverage area than the fixed base station transceiver in the
coverage area thereof, for example, to ensure a higher bandwidth
and diversity of the radio resources used.
[0023] Exemplary embodiments can further use information about the
position and the motion vector of a mobile base station transceiver
to use a control module to determine the use of the radio resources
of the mobile communication system and of another mobile
communication system on the basis of position and motion vector. In
some exemplary embodiments, the apparatus can to this end likewise
comprise a positioning module that is designed to determine the
information about the position and the motion vector of the mobile
base station transceiver. The use of the position and motion
information can thereby sometimes achieve better use of available
radio resources or a radio resource use plan (such as, e.g.,
frequency planning or distribution).
[0024] In some exemplary embodiments, the control module may be
designed to take the information about the position and the motion
vector as a basis for determining information about a trajectory of
the mobile base station transceiver. Based on information about
this trajectory and, better, information about the frequency use,
it is then possible to perform the allocation of the radio
resources along the trajectory, for example. This can allow better
coordination of the radio resources used.
[0025] In exemplary embodiments, the transceiver module may be
designed to use one or more further mobile base station
transceivers to communicate with one or more further fixed base
station transceivers. This can sometimes increase bandwidth and
fail safety for the communication of data with the fixed base
station transceivers.
[0026] Vehicles having such an apparatus may likewise be an
exemplary embodiment, the mobile base station transceiver being
supplied with the power required for operation by the vehicle. In
exemplary embodiments, it is also possible for the antennas of the
vehicle to be used for communicating with fixed base station
transceivers, mobile base station transceivers and/or mobile
transceivers. Use of the apparatus with a vehicle can, in exemplary
embodiments, allow use of the available power reserves and use of
the available surface areas for large antennas.
[0027] In exemplary embodiments, the vehicle may be designed for
communication with a fixed base station transceiver and for direct
communication with another vehicle. This can allow
machine-to-machine communication between multiple vehicles.
[0028] In some exemplary embodiments, at least two overlapping
coverage areas of two mobile base station transceivers can use
different frequency bands in the mobile communication system. This
can sometimes increase the available bandwidth. In this respect,
exemplary embodiments also provide a mobile base station
transceiver that comprises the apparatus described above, and a
mobile communication system having a mobile base station
transceiver that comprises an apparatus as described above.
[0029] Exemplary embodiments further provide a method for a mobile
base station transceiver of a mobile communication system according
to the description above. The mobile communication system further
has at least one fixed base station transceiver and at least one
further mobile base station transceiver. The method comprises
communicating with at least one fixed base station transceiver in
the coverage area thereof and providing a mobile coverage area for
the at least one further mobile base station transceiver. In this
case, the mobile coverage area projects beyond the coverage area of
the at least one fixed base station transceiver at least to some
extent by an extended coverage area.
[0030] Exemplary embodiments further provide a program having a
program code for performing the method when the program code is
executed on a computer, a processor, a controller or a programmable
hardware component. Exemplary embodiments also provide a digital
storage medium that is machine-readable or computer-readable and
that has electronically readable control signals that can interact
with a programmable hardware component such that one of the methods
described above is carried out.
[0031] Various exemplary embodiments will now be described more
thoroughly with reference to the accompanying drawings depicting
some exemplary embodiments. In the figures, the thickness
dimensions of lines, layers and/or regions may be depicted in an
exaggerated manner for the sake of clarity.
[0032] In the following description of the accompanying figures,
which show only a few exemplary embodiments by way of example, like
reference symbols can denote like or comparable components.
Further, synoptic reference symbols can be used for components and
objects that arise repeatedly in an exemplary embodiment or in a
drawing but are described together for one or more features.
Components or objects that are described using the same or synoptic
reference symbols may be embodied in the same way, but if need be
also differently, in terms of individual, multiple or all features,
for example, their dimensions, unless the description explicitly or
implicitly reveals anything different.
[0033] Although exemplary embodiments can be modified and altered
in different ways, exemplary embodiments are represented as
examples in the figures and are described in detail herein.
However, it should be clarified that the intention is not for
exemplary embodiments to be limited to the respectively disclosed
forms, but rather for exemplary embodiments to cover all functional
and/or structural modifications, equivalents and alternatives that
are within the realm of the disclosed embodiments. Like reference
symbols denote like or similar elements throughout the description
of the figures.
[0034] It should be noted that an element that is referred to as
"connected" or "coupled" to another element may be connected or
coupled to the other element directly or that there may be
intermediate elements. When an element is referred to as "directly
connected" or "directly coupled" to another element, on the other
hand, there are no intermediate elements. Other terms that are used
to describe the relationship between elements should be interpreted
similarly (e.g., "between" as opposed to "directly between",
"adjoining" as opposed to "directly adjoining" etc.).
[0035] The terminology that is used herein serves only to describe
exemplary embodiments and is not intended to limit the exemplary
embodiments. As used herein, the singular forms "a", "an" and "the"
are also intended to include plural forms unless the context
explicitly indicates otherwise. Further, it should be clarified
that expressions such as, e.g., "includes", "including", "has",
"comprises", "comprising" and/or "having", as used herein, indicate
the presence of the features, whole numbers, operations, workflows,
elements and/or components but do not exclude the presence or the
addition of one or more feature(s), whole number(s), operation(s),
workflow(s), element(s), component(s) and/or group(s) thereof.
[0036] Unless stated otherwise, all terms used herein (including
technical and scientific terms) have the same meaning as attributed
to them by a person of average skill in the art in the field to
which the exemplary embodiments belong. Further, it should be
clarified that expressions, e.g., those that are defined in
generally used dictionaries, are to be interpreted as though they
have the meaning that is consistent with their meaning in the
context of the relevant art, and are not to be interpreted in any
idealized or excessively formal sense, unless this is explicitly
defined herein.
[0037] FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of an apparatus
10 for a mobile base station transceiver 100 of a mobile
communication system 300.
[0038] Exemplary embodiments can therefore make use of a
transceiver/mobile radio that is designed for communicating data
via a mobile radio system with a server or computer or another
communication partner that is available via the Internet or the
World Wide Web (WWW) or another network, for example. The mobile
radio system may, by way of example, be based on one of the mobile
radio systems that are standardized by applicable standardization
committees, such as, e.g., the 3rd Generation Partnership Project
(3GPP) group. By way of example, these comprise the Global System
for Mobile Communications (GSM), Enhanced Data Rates for GSM
Evolution (EDGE), GSM EDGE Radio Access Network (GERAN), the
Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (UTRAN) or the Evolved
UTRAN (E-UTRAN), such as, e.g., the Universal Mobile
Telecommunication System (UMTS), Long Term Evolution (LTE) or
LTE-Advanced (LTE-A), or else mobile radio systems of other
standards, such as, e.g., Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave
Access (WIMAX), IEEE802.16 or Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN),
IEEE802.11, and also generally a system that is based on a time
division multiple access (TDMA) method, frequency division multiple
access (FDMA) method, code division multiple access (CDMA) method,
orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) method or
another technology or multiple access method. The terms mobile
radio system, mobile radio network and mobile communication system
are used synonymously below.
[0039] The mobile communication system 300 further has at least one
fixed base station transceiver 200 and at least one further mobile
base station transceiver 110. It is subsequently assumed that such
a mobile radio system 300 comprises at least one static transceiver
in the sense of a fixed base station that has a connection to the
line-connected part of the mobile radio network. On the other hand,
it is assumed that the mobile radio network comprises at least one
mobile transceiver (mobile radio terminal), the term mobile in this
case being intended to relate to the fact that communication with
this transceiver is via the air interface, i.e., wireless/cordless.
A mobile transceiver of this kind can correspond, by way of
example, to a portable telephone, a smartphone, a tablet computer,
a portable computer or a radio module, which is not necessarily
mobile in the sense that it actually moves in relation to its
surroundings. The transceiver may also be static (e.g., relative to
a motor vehicle) but communicate wirelessly with the mobile radio
network. In this respect, the aforementioned base station can
correspond to a base station from one of the standards mentioned
above, for example, a NodeB, an eNodeB, etc.
[0040] A base station transceiver or a base station (these terms
can be used equivalently) may be designed to communicate with one
or more active mobile radios and to communicate in or adjacent to a
service or coverage area of another base station transceiver or of
a base station, e.g., as a macrocell base station or as a
small-cell base station. Hence, disclosed embodiments can comprise
a mobile communication system having one or more mobile radio
terminals and one or more base stations, the base station
transceivers being able to provide macrocells or small cells, e.g.,
picocells, metrocells or femtocells. A mobile transceiver or mobile
radio terminal can correspond to a smartphone, a mobile phone, a
user device, a radio, a mobile, a mobile station, a laptop, a
notebook, a personal computer (PC), a personal digital assistant
(PDA), a universal serial bus (USB) stick or universal serial bus
adapter, a car, etc. A mobile transceiver can also be referred to
as "User Equipment (UE)" or mobile in line with 3GPP
terminology.
[0041] A base station transceiver or a base station may, at least
from the perspective of a mobile radio terminal, be situated in a
fixed or at least permanently connected part of the network or
system. A base station transceiver or a base station can also
correspond to a remote radio head, a relay station, a transmission
point, an access point, a radio, a macrocell, a small cell, a
microcell, a femtocell, a metrocell, etc. A base station or a base
station transceiver is therefore understood to be a logical concept
of a node/unit for providing a radio carrier or radio links via the
air interface, which radio carrier or radio links is/are used to
provide a terminal/mobile transceiver with access to a mobile radio
network.
[0042] A base station or a base station transceiver can be a
wireless interface for mobile radio terminals to a wired network.
The radio signals used may be radio signals standardized by 3GPP or
radio signals in general in accordance with one or more of the
aforementioned systems. As such, a base station or a base station
transceiver can correspond to a NodeB, an eNodeB, a base
transceiver station (BTS), an access point, a remote radio head, a
transmission point, a relay station, etc. that can be divided into
further functional units.
[0043] A mobile radio terminal or mobile transceiver can be
assigned to a base station or cell or may be registered therewith.
The term cell relates to a coverage area of the radio services that
are provided by a base station, e.g., by a NodeB (NB), an eNodeB
(eNB), a remote radio head, a transmission point, a relay station,
etc. A base station can provide one or more cells on one or more
carrier frequencies. In some disclosed embodiments, a cell can also
correspond to a sector. E.g., it is possible to form sectors with
sector antennas that are designed to cover an angle section around
an antenna site. In some disclosed embodiments, a base station may
be designed to operate three or six cells or sectors, for example
(e.g., 120.degree. in the case of three cells and 60.degree. in the
case of six cells). A base station can comprise multiple sector
antennas. The terms cell and base station can also be used
synonymously below. Furthermore, a distinction is drawn between
fixed and mobile base stations, mobile base stations also being
able to act as mobile relay stations.
[0044] In other words, in the disclosed embodiments, the mobile
communication system can also comprise a heterogeneous cell network
(HetNet) that has different cell types, e.g., cells with closed
user groups (also "close subscriber group CSG") and open cells and
also cells of different size, such as, e.g., macrocells and small
cells, the coverage area of a small cell being smaller than the
coverage area of a macrocell. A small cell can correspond to a
metrocell, a microcell, a picocell, a femtocell, etc. The coverage
areas of the individual cells are provided by the base stations for
their service areas and are dependent on the transmission powers of
the base stations and the interference conditions in the respective
area. In some disclosed embodiments, the coverage area of a small
cell may be surrounded at least to some extent by a service area of
another cell or can match or overlap the service area of, e.g., a
macrocell to some extent. Small cells can be used to extend the
capacity of the network. A metrocell can therefore be used to cover
a smaller surface area than a macrocell, e.g., metrocells are used
to cover a road or a section in a built-up area. For a macrocell,
the coverage area can have a diameter in the order of magnitude of
one kilometer or more, for a microcell the coverage area can have a
diameter of less than one kilometer, and a picocell can have a
coverage area with a diameter of less than 100 m. A femtocell can
have the smallest coverage area and it can be used to cover a
domestic area, a motor vehicle area or a gate area at an airport,
for example, i.e., its transmission area can have a diameter of
below 50 m.
[0045] The apparatus moreover comprises a transceiver module 12 for
communication with at least one fixed base station transceiver 200
in the coverage area 202 of the at least one fixed base station
transceiver 200. In exemplary embodiments, the transceiver module
12 can contain typical transmitter and receiver components. These
can include, by way of example, one or more antennas, one or more
filters, one or more mixers, one or more amplifiers, one or more
diplexers, one or more duplexers, etc. The transceiver module 12 is
designed to provide a mobile coverage area 102 for the at least one
further mobile base station transceiver 110, the mobile coverage
area 102 projecting beyond the coverage area 202 of the at least
one fixed base station transceiver 200 at least to some extent by
an extended coverage area 104.
[0046] Further, FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary embodiment in which
the communication system 300 comprises at least one mobile
transceiver 250 and wherein the transceiver module 12 is further
designed for communication with the at least one mobile transceiver
250. This can, as is illustrated in FIG. 5, also happen when no
further mobile base station transceiver communicates with the
mobile base station transceiver 100, for example.
[0047] In further exemplary embodiments, FIGS. 1 and 2 also
illustrate how the further mobile base station transceiver 110 is
designed to provide a further mobile coverage area 112 that extends
the mobile coverage area 102 and the coverage area 202 of the fixed
base station transceiver 200. In application examples, it is thus
possible for the apparatus 10 to be designed to form with the
further mobile base station transceiver 110 a multi-hop network for
extending the coverage area 202 of the fixed base station
transceiver 200, for example. In exemplary embodiments, such a
multi-hop network can also be used to set up a separate network
independently of operators of mobile communication systems, for
example, with unused frequency bands or frequency bands of
cooperating operators being used in this case, for example. The
network can then sometimes be used to make network capacity
available to cooperating operators.
[0048] In some exemplary embodiments, the apparatus 10 further
comprises a control module 16 for controlling the transceiver
module 12. In exemplary embodiments, the control device or the
control module 16 can correspond to any controller or processor or
to a programmable hardware component. By way of example, the
control module 16 may also be realized as software that is
programmed for an applicable hardware component. In this respect,
the control module 16 may be implemented as programmable hardware
with appropriately adapted software. In this case, it is possible
to use any processors, such as digital signal processors (DSPs).
Exemplary embodiments are not restricted to one type of processor
in this case. Any processors or multiple processors are conceivable
for implementing the control module 16.
[0049] The control module 16 is sometimes designed to allocate
radio resources of the mobile communication system 300 or of
another mobile communication system 400 to the transceiver module
12. In exemplary embodiments, the allocation is based on
information about a position and a motion vector of the mobile base
station transceiver 100. In some exemplary embodiments, the
apparatus can further comprise a positioning module 14 that is
designed to determine the information about the position and the
motion vector of the mobile base station transceiver 100. In
exemplary embodiments, the positioning module 14 may be implemented
as any component that allows ascertainment or determination of
information regarding a position of the apparatus or of the
positioning module 14. Conceivable examples are receivers for
satellite-based navigation systems, e.g., a GPS (Global Positioning
System) receiver, or other components that allow position finding
by means of triangulation of received radio signals, for
example.
[0050] In some exemplary embodiments, the control module 16 may
further be designed to take the information about the position and
the motion vector as a basis for determining information about a
trajectory of the mobile base station transceiver 100, and to
perform the allocation of the radio resources based on the
information about the trajectory and a piece of frequency use
information along the trajectory to increase the available
bandwidth through interference management or targeted radio
resource management. The information about position, motion vector
and trajectory can, in exemplary embodiments, likewise be used for
other services, for example, emergency services and driver
assistance.
[0051] As FIG. 3 shows, in some exemplary embodiments, a vehicle
can have the apparatus 10 for a mobile base station transceiver
100, in which case the mobile base station transceiver 100 is
supplied with the power required for operation by the vehicle 500.
Suitable vehicles are all conceivable vehicles, such as motor
vehicles or trucks, but also two-wheeled vehicles, such as
motorcycles or bicycles, and also ships and aircraft. Exemplary
embodiments can have a positive effect for ships if the range of
commercial mobile radio networks that are normally available only
on land or near to the coast can also be provided at sea, where
conventional coverage is linked to great problems. Similarly, it
can be extended to airspaces, for example, in conjunction with
direct air to ground communication.
[0052] The mobile base station transceiver can in this case use the
antennas 510 of the vehicle 500, for example, to communicate with
the at least one fixed base station transceiver 200 and/or to
communicate with the at least one further mobile base station
transceiver 110 and/or to communicate with the at least one mobile
transceiver 250. As a result of the possible use of the base
station transceiver 100 or the apparatus 10m in a vehicle, the base
station transceiver 100 or the apparatus 10 is often depicted as a
transmitting vehicle 500 in the further figures.
[0053] The integration of the mobile base station transceiver 100
into a vehicle 500 can sometimes result in an enlarged coverage
area, since the antenna 510 can have benefits in terms of the
height and the size and the spacing of multiple input multiple
output (MIMO) antennas, for example. It is sometimes possible for
the vehicle surface area to be fitted with more antenna elements
than would usefully be usefully possible on a conventional mobile
station and for accordingly more complex reception and transmission
concepts to be used, since more space and power are available.
[0054] As FIG. 7 illustrates, the transceiver module may be
designed not only for communication with a fixed base station
transceiver 200, but also for direct communication with another
vehicle 550, for example. In this case, the vehicle is able, in
direct communication with further vehicles 550a-d, to coordinate
overtaking procedures and lane mergers, for example, between
multiple vehicles and/or to avoid accidents involving wild animals
and other hazard situations. Such communication can be used to
coordinate a gap that is necessary for a vehicle to filter in
between further vehicles.
[0055] FIG. 4 shows an exemplary embodiment, wherein the
transceiver module 12 is designed for communication with at least
one further mobile base station transceiver 120 in a coverage area
122 of the at least one further mobile base station transceiver
120, wherein the transceiver module 12 is further designed to
provide a mobile coverage area 102 for the at least one mobile base
station transceiver 110, the mobile coverage area 102 projecting
beyond the mobile coverage area 122 of the at least one further
mobile base station transceiver 120 at least to some extent by an
extended coverage area 106. In some exemplary embodiments, the
transceiver module 12 may further be designed to use a different
frequency in the extended coverage area 102 or 106 than the fixed
base station transceiver 200 in the coverage area 202. In exemplary
embodiments, it is furthermore possible for at least two
overlapping coverage areas of two mobile base station transceivers
to use different frequency bands, for example.
[0056] As FIG. 4 further shows, the transceiver module 12 may, in
exemplary embodiments, further be designed to use one or more
further mobile base station transceivers 120 and 110 to communicate
with one or more further fixed base station transceivers 210. This
allows the capacity of the backhaul link of the mobile
communication system to be increased using the mobile base station
transceivers 100, 110 and 120 that are involved and/or allows the
latency thereof to be decreased, or allows connection reliability
to be increased in general.
[0057] FIG. 6 shows a flowchart for an exemplary embodiment of a
method for a mobile base station transceiver 100 of a mobile
communication system 300. In this case, the mobile communication
system 300 further has at least one fixed base station transceiver
200 and at least one further mobile base station transceiver 110.
The method comprises communicating 22 with at least one fixed base
station transceiver 200 in the coverage area 202 of the at least
one fixed base station transceiver 200 and providing 24 a mobile
coverage area 102 for the at least one further mobile base station
transceiver 110, the mobile coverage area 102 projecting beyond the
coverage area 202 of the at least one fixed base station
transceiver 200 at least to some extent by an extended coverage
area 104.
[0058] A further exemplary embodiment is a computer program for
performing at least one of the methods described above when the
computer program runs on a computer, a processor or a programmable
hardware component. A further exemplary embodiment is also a
digital storage medium that is machine-readable or
computer-readable and that has electronically readable control
signals that can interact with a programmable hardware component
such that one of the methods described above is carried out.
[0059] The features disclosed in the description above, the claims
below and the enclosed figures may be of importance, and can be
implemented, both individually and in any desired combination, for
the realization of an exemplary embodiment in its various
configurations.
[0060] Although some embodiments have been described in connection
with an apparatus, it goes without saying that these embodiments
also represent a description of the corresponding method, so that a
block or a component of an apparatus should also be considered as a
corresponding method operation or as a feature of a method
operation. Analogously to this, embodiments described in connection
with or as a method operation also represent a description of a
corresponding block or detail or feature of a corresponding
apparatus.
[0061] Depending on implementation requirements, exemplary
embodiments may be implemented in hardware or in software. The
implementation can be performed using a digital storage medium, for
example, a floppy disk, a DVD, a Blu-Ray disc, a CD, a ROM, a PROM,
an EPROM, an EEPROM or a FLASH memory, a hard disk or another
magnetic or optical memory that stores electronically readable
control signals that can interact or do interact with a
programmable hardware component such that the respective method is
performed.
[0062] A programmable hardware component may be formed by a
processor, a computer processor (CPU=Central Processing Unit), a
graphics processor (GPU=Graphics Processing Unit), a computer, a
computer system, an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC),
an integrated circuit (IC), a system on chip (SOC), a programmable
logic element or a field programmable gate array having a
microprocessor (FPGA).
[0063] The digital storage medium may therefore be machine-readable
or computer-readable. Some exemplary embodiments thus comprise a
data storage medium that has electronically readable control
signals that are capable of interacting with a programmable
computer system or a programmable hardware component such that one
of the methods described herein is performed. At least one
exemplary embodiment is therefore a data storage medium (or a
digital storage medium or a computer-readable medium) on which the
program performing one of the methods described above is
recorded.
[0064] Generally, exemplary embodiments may be implemented as a
program, firmware, computer program or computer program product
having a program code or as data, wherein the program code or the
data is or are operative to the effect of performing one of the
methods when the program runs on a processor or a programmable
hardware component. The program code or the data may, by way of
example, also be stored on a machine-readable storage medium or
data storage medium. The program code or the data can be present
inter alia as source code, machine code or byte code and as other
intermediate code.
[0065] A further exemplary embodiment is further a data stream, a
signal train or a sequence of signals that represents or represent
the program for performing one of the methods described herein. The
data stream, the signal train or the sequence of signals may be
configured, by way of example, to the effect of being transferred
via a data communication link, for example, via the Internet or
another network. Exemplary embodiments are thus also
data-representing signal trains that are suitable for sending via a
network or a data communication link, wherein the data represents
the program.
[0066] A program according to at least one exemplary embodiment can
implement one of the methods while it is performed, for example, by
reading memory locations or writing a datum or multiple data
thereto, as a result of which, if need be, switching processes or
other processes are brought about in transistor structures, in
amplifier structures or in other electrical components, optical
components, magnetic components or components operating on another
functional principle. Accordingly, reading a memory location allows
data, values, sensor values or other information to be captured,
determined or measured by a program. Therefore, by reading one or
more memory locations, a program can capture, determine or measure
variables, values, measured variables and other information, and by
writing to one or more memory locations, it can bring about, prompt
or perform an action and actuate other devices, machines and
components.
[0067] The exemplary embodiments described above are merely an
illustration of the principles. It goes without saying that
modifications and variations of the arrangements and details
described herein will become apparent to other persons skilled in
the art. Therefore, the intention is for the disclosed embodiments
to be restricted only by the scope of protection of the patent
claims below, and not by the specific details that have been
presented herein on the basis of the description and the
explanation of the exemplary embodiments.
LIST OF REFERENCE SYMBOLS
10 Apparatus
[0068] 12 Transceiver module 14 Positioning module 16 Control
module
22 Communication
24 Provision
[0069] 100 Mobile base station transceiver 102 Coverage area of the
mobile base station transceiver 104 Extended coverage area of the
mobile base station transceiver 106 Extended coverage area of the
mobile base station transceiver 110 Further mobile base station
transceiver 112 Coverage area of the further mobile base station
transceiver 120 Further mobile base station transceiver 122
Coverage area of the further mobile base station transceiver 200
Fixed base station transceiver 202 Coverage area of the fixed base
station transceiver 250 Mobile transceiver 300 Mobile communication
system 400 Further mobile communication system
500 Vehicle
[0070] 510 Antenna of the vehicle 550 (a-d) Further vehicle
* * * * *